Search results for: Human values

Authors: Stella O. Olubodun, George E. Eriyamremu

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The study assessed the effect of crude oil applied at rates, 0, 2, 5, and 10% on the fractional chemical forms and availability of some metals in soils from Usen, Edo State, with no known crude oil contamination and soil from a crude oil spill site in Ubeji, Delta State, Nigeria. Three methods were used to determine the bioavailability of metals in the soils: maize (Zea mays) plant, EDTA and BCR sequential extraction. The sequential extract acid soluble fraction of the BCR extraction (most labile fraction of the soils, normally associated with bioavailability) were compared with total metal concentration in maize seedlings as a means to compare the chemical and biological measures of bioavailability. Total Fe was higher in comparison to other metals for the crude oil contaminated soils. The metal concentrations were below the limits of 4.7% Fe, 190mg/kg Cu and 720mg/kg Zn intervention values and 36mg/kg Cu and 140mg/kg Zn target values for soils provided by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) guidelines. The concentration of the metals in maize seedlings increased with increasing rates of crude oil contamination. Comparison of the metal concentrations in maize seedlings with EDTA extractable concentrations showed that EDTA extracted more metals than maize plant.

Keywords: Availability, crude oil contamination, EDTA, maize, metals.

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Authors: Hazem M. El-Bakry, Qiangfu Zhao

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In recent years, fast neural networks for object/face detection have been introduced based on cross correlation in the frequency domain between the input matrix and the hidden weights of neural networks. In our previous papers [3,4], fast neural networks for certain code detection was introduced. It was proved in [10] that for fast neural networks to give the same correct results as conventional neural networks, both the weights of neural networks and the input matrix must be symmetric. This condition made those fast neural networks slower than conventional neural networks. Another symmetric form for the input matrix was introduced in [1-9] to speed up the operation of these fast neural networks. Here, corrections for the cross correlation equations (given in [13,15,16]) to compensate for the symmetry condition are presented. After these corrections, it is proved mathematically that the number of computation steps required for fast neural networks is less than that needed by classical neural networks. Furthermore, there is no need for converting the input data into symmetric form. Moreover, such new idea is applied to increase the speed of neural networks in case of processing complex values. Simulation results after these corrections using MATLAB confirm the theoretical computations.

Keywords: Fast Code/Data Detection, Neural Networks, Cross Correlation, real/complex values.

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Authors: Sh. Kianfar, A. Moheb, H. Ghaforian

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The equilibrium, thermodynamics and kinetics of the biosorption of Cd (II) and Pb(II) by a Spore Forming Bacillus (MGL 75) were investigated at different experimental conditions. The Langmuir and Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) equilibrium adsorption models were applied to describe the biosorption of the metal ions by MGL 75 biomass. The Langmuir model fitted the equilibrium data better than the other models. Maximum adsorption capacities q max for lead (II) and cadmium (II) were found equal to 158.73mg/g and 91.74 mg/g by Langmuir model. The values of the mean free energy determined with the D-R equation showed that adsorption process is a physiosorption process. The thermodynamic parameters Gibbs free energy (ΔG°), enthalpy (ΔH°), and entropy (ΔS°) changes were also calculated, and the values indicated that the biosorption process was exothermic and spontaneous. Experiment data were also used to study biosorption kinetics using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Kinetic parameters, rate constants, equilibrium sorption capacities and related correlation coefficients were calculated and discussed. The results showed that the biosorption processes of both metal ions followed well pseudo-second-order kinetics.

Keywords: biosorption, kinetics, Metal ion removal, thermodynamics

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Authors: S. Raja Ratna, R. Ravi

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Securing the confidential data transferred via wireless network remains a challenging problem. It is paramount to ensure that data are accessible only by the legitimate users rather than by the attackers. One of the most serious threats to organization is jamming, which disrupts the communication between any two pairs of nodes. Therefore, designing an attack-defending scheme without any packet loss in data transmission is an important challenge. In this paper, Dependence based Malicious Route Defending DMRD Scheme has been proposed in multi path routing environment to prevent jamming attack. The key idea is to defend the malicious route to ensure perspicuous transmission. This scheme develops a two layered architecture and it operates in two different steps. In the first step, possible routes are captured and their agent dependence values are marked using triple agents. In the second step, the dependence values are compared by performing comparator filtering to detect malicious route as well as to identify a reliable route for secured data transmission. By simulation studies, it is observed that the proposed scheme significantly identifies malicious route by attaining lower delay time and route discovery time; it also achieves higher throughput.

Keywords: Attacker, Dependence, Jamming, Malicious.

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Authors: Marcus C. Garcia, Giselle C. Guimarães, Luciana H. Yamane, Renato R. Siman

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The environmental indicators and the classification of beach waste are essential tools to diagnose the current situation and to indicate ways to improve the quality of this environment. The purpose of this paper was to perform a quali-quantitative analysis of the beach waste on the Curva da Jurema Beach (Espírito Santo - Brazil). Three transects were used with equidistant positioning over the total length of the beach for the solid waste collection. Solid wastes were later classified according to their use and primary raw material from the low and high summer season. During the low season, average values of 7.10 items.m^-1, 18.22 g.m^-1 and 0.91 g.m^-2 were found for the whole beach, and transect 3 contributed the most waste, with the total sum of items equal to 999 (49%), a total mass of 5.62 kg and a total volume of 21.31 L. During the high summer season, average values of 8.22 items.m^-1, 54.40 g.m^-1 and 2.72 g.m^-2 were found, with transect 2 contributing the most to the total sum with 1,212 items (53%), a total mass of 10.76 kg and a total volume of 51.99 L. Of the total collected, plastic materials represented 51.4% of the total number of items, 35.9% of the total mass and 68% of the total volume. The implementation of reactive and proactive measures is necessary so that the management of the solid wastes on Curva da Jurema Beach is in accordance with principles of sustainability.

Keywords: Beach solid waste, environmental indicators, quali-quantitative analysis, waste management.

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Authors: A. Yazdanmehr, H. Jahed

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Being made with the lightest commercially available industrial metal, Magnesium (Mg) alloys are of interest for light-weighting. Expanding their application to different material processing methods requires Mg properties at large strains. Several room-temperature processes such as shot and laser peening and hole cold expansion need compressive large strain data. Two methods have been proposed in the literature to obtain the stress-strain curve at high strains: 1) anti-buckling guides and 2) small cubic samples. In this paper, an anti-buckling fixture is used with the help of digital image correlation (DIC) to obtain the compression-tension (C-T) of AZ31B-H24 rolled sheet at large strain values of up to 10.5%. The effect of the anti-bucking fixture on stress-strain curves is evaluated experimentally by comparing the results with those of the compression tests of cubic samples. For testing cubic samples, a new fixture has been designed to increase the accuracy of testing cubic samples with DIC strain measurements. Results show a negligible effect of anti-buckling on stress-strain curves, specifically at high strain values.

Keywords: Large strain, compression-tension, loading-unloading, Mg alloys.

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Authors: Rosemarie Velik, Dietmar Bruckner

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Today, building automation is advancing from simple monitoring and control tasks of lightning and heating towards more and more complex applications that require a dynamic perception and interpretation of different scenes occurring in a building. Current approaches cannot handle these newly upcoming demands. In this article, a bionically inspired approach for multimodal, dynamic scene perception and interpretation is presented, which is based on neuroscientific and neuro-psychological research findings about the perceptual system of the human brain. This approach bases on data from diverse sensory modalities being processed in a so-called neuro-symbolic network. With its parallel structure and with its basic elements being information processing and storing units at the same time, a very efficient method for scene perception is provided overcoming the problems and bottlenecks of classical dynamic scene interpretation systems.

Keywords: building automation, biomimetrics, dynamic scene interpretation, human-like perception, neuro-symbolic networks.

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Authors: M. Kumpugdee-Vollrath, T. G. D. Phu, M. Helmis

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A suitable model membrane to study the pharmacological effect of pharmaceutical products is human stratum corneum because this layer of human skin is the outermost layer and it is an important barrier to be passed through. Other model membranes which were also used are for example skins from pig, mouse, reptile or fish. We are interested in fish skins in this project. The advantages of the fish skins are, that they can be obtained from the supermarket or fish shop. However, the fish skins should be freshly prepared and used directly without storage. In order to understand the effect of different model drugs e.g. lidocaine HCl, resveratrol, paracetamol, ibuprofen, acetyl salicylic acid on the properties of the model membrane from various types of fishes e.g. trout, salmon, cod, plaice permeation tests were performed and differential scanning calorimetry was applied.

Keywords: Fish skin, model membrane, permeation, DSC, lidocaine HCl, resveratrol, paracetamol, ibuprofen, acetyl salicylic acid.

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Authors: S. Karabulut, A. Güllü, A. Güldas, R. Gürbüz

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This study investigates the effects of the lead angle and chip thickness variation on surface roughness during the machining of compacted graphite iron using ceramic cutting tools under dry cutting conditions. Analytical models were developed for predicting the surface roughness values of the specimens after the face milling process. Experimental data was collected and imported to the artificial neural network model. A multilayer perceptron model was used with the back propagation algorithm employing the input parameters of lead angle, cutting speed and feed rate in connection with chip thickness. Furthermore, analysis of variance was employed to determine the effects of the cutting parameters on surface roughness. Artificial neural network and regression analysis were used to predict surface roughness. The values thus predicted were compared with the collected experimental data, and the corresponding percentage error was computed. Analysis results revealed that the lead angle is the dominant factor affecting surface roughness. Experimental results indicated an improvement in the surface roughness value with decreasing lead angle value from 88° to 45°.

Keywords: CGI, milling, surface roughness, ANN, regression, modeling, analysis.

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Authors: S. Matour, M. Mahdavinejad, R. Fayaz

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Daylight utilization is a key factor in achieving visual and thermal comfort, and energy savings in integrated building design. However, lack of measured data related to this topic has become a major challenge with the increasing need for integrating lighting concepts and simulations in the early stages of design procedures. The current paper deals with the values of daylight illuminance on horizontal and south facing vertical surfaces; the data are estimated using IESNA model and measured values of the horizontal and vertical illuminance, and a regression model with an acceptable linear correlation is obtained. The resultant illuminance frequency curves are useful for estimating daylight availability on south facing surfaces in Tehran. In addition, the relationship between indirect vertical illuminance and the corresponding global horizontal illuminance is analyzed. A simple parametric equation is proposed in order to predict the vertical illumination on a shaded south facing surface. The equation correlates the ratio between the vertical and horizontal illuminance to the solar altitude and is used with another relationship for prediction of the vertical illuminance. Both equations show good agreement, which allows for calculation of indirect vertical illuminance on a south facing surface at any time throughout the year.

Keywords: Tehran daylight availability, horizontal illuminance, vertical illuminance, diffuse illuminance.

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Authors: Matthew D. Baffa

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Infrared thermography is a non-destructive test method used to estimate surface temperatures based on the amount of electromagnetic energy radiated by building envelope components. These surface temperatures are indicators of various qualitative building envelope deficiencies such as locations and extent of heat loss, thermal bridging, damaged or missing thermal insulation, air leakage, and moisture presence in roof, floor, and wall assemblies. Although infrared thermography is commonly used for qualitative deficiency detection in buildings, this study assesses its use as a quantitative method to estimate the overall thermal conductance value (U-value) of the exterior above-grade walls of a study home. The overall U-value of exterior above-grade walls in a home provides useful insight into the energy consumption and thermal comfort of a home. Three methodologies from the literature were employed to estimate the overall U-value by equating conductive heat loss through the exterior above-grade walls to the sum of convective and radiant heat losses of the walls. Outdoor infrared thermography field measurements of the exterior above-grade wall surface and reflective temperatures and emissivity values for various components of the exterior above-grade wall assemblies were carried out during winter months at the study home using a basic thermal imager device. The overall U-values estimated from each methodology from the literature using the recorded field measurements were compared to the nominal exterior above-grade wall overall U-value calculated from materials and dimensions detailed in architectural drawings of the study home. The nominal overall U-value was validated through calendarization and weather normalization of utility bills for the study home as well as various estimated heat loss quantities from a HOT2000 computer model of the study home and other methods. Under ideal environmental conditions, the estimated overall U-values deviated from the nominal overall U-value between ±2% to ±33%. This study suggests infrared thermography can estimate the overall U-value of exterior above-grade walls in low-rise residential homes with a fair amount of accuracy.

Keywords: Emissivity, heat loss, infrared thermography, thermal conductance.

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Authors: Fauzi Jarushi, Paul Cosentino, Edward Kalajian, Hadeel Dekhn

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At certain depths during large diameter displacement pile driving, rebound well over 0.25 inches was experienced, followed by a small permanent-set during each hammer blow. High pile rebound (HPR) soils may stop the pile driving and results in a limited pile capacity. In some cases, rebound leads to pile damage, delaying the construction project, and the requiring foundations redesign. HPR was evaluated at seven Florida sites, during driving of square precast, prestressed concrete piles driven into saturated, fine silty to clayey sands and sandy clays. Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) deflection versus time data recorded during installation, was used to develop correlations between cone penetrometer (CPT) pore-water pressures, pile displacements and rebound. At five sites where piles experienced excessive HPR with minimal set, the pore pressure yielded very high positive values of greater than 20 tsf. However, at the site where the pile rebounded, followed by an acceptable permanent-set, the measured pore pressure ranged between 5 and 20 tsf. The pore pressure exhibited values of less than 5 tsf at the site where no rebound was noticed. In summary, direct correlations between CPTu pore pressure and rebound were produced, allowing identification of soils that produce HPR.

Keywords: CPTu, pore water pressure, pile rebound.

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Authors: P. Parvizi, F. Norouzifard, S.Mohammadi

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The need to implement intelligent highways is much more emphasized with the growth of vehicle production line as well as vehicle intelligence. The control of intelligent vehicles in order to reduce human error and boost ease congestion is not accomplished solely by the aid of human resources. The present article is an attempt to introduce an intelligent control system based on a single central computer. In this project, central computer, without utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS), is capable of tracking all vehicles, crisis management and control, traffic guidance and recording traffic crimes along the highway. By the help of RFID technology, vehicles are connected to computerized systems, intelligent light poles and other available hardware along the way. By the aid of Wimax communicative technology, all components of the system are virtually connected together through local and global networks devised in them and the energy of the network is provided by the solar cells installed on the intelligent light poles.

Keywords: intelligent highway, intelligent light pole, highway automation

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Authors: E. Cintura, M. I. Gomes

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Nowadays, sustainable development issues have a key role in the planning of the man-made environment. Ensuring this development means limiting the impact of human activity on nature. It is essential to secure healthy places and good living conditions. For these reasons, indoor air quality and building materials play a fundamental role in sustainable architectural projects. These factors significantly affect human health: they can radically change the quality of the internal environment and energy consumption. The use of natural materials such as earth has many beneficial aspects in comfort and indoor air quality. As well as advantages in the environmental impact of the construction, they ensure a low energy consumption. Since they are already present in nature, their production and use do not require a high-energy consumption. Furthermore, they have a high thermo-hygrometric capacity, being able to absorb moisture, contributing positively to indoor conditions. Indoor air quality is closely related to relative humidity. For these reasons, it can be affirmed that the use of earth materials guarantees a sustainable development and at the same time improves the health of the building users. This paper summarizes several researches that demonstrate the importance of indoor air quality for human health and how it strictly depends on the building materials used. Eco-efficient plasters are also considered: earth and ash mortar. The bibliography consulted has the objective of supporting future experimental and laboratory analyzes. It is necessary to carry on with research by the use of simulations and testing to confirm the hygrothermal properties of eco-efficient plasters and therefore their ability to improve indoor air quality.

Keywords: Hygroscopicity, hygrothermal comfort, mortar, plaster.

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Authors: Hapriza Ashari, Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod

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This article aims to assess the level of basic knowledge of statutory employment rights at the workplace as prescribed by the Malaysian Employment Act 1955. The statutory employment rights comprises of a variety of individual employment rights such as protections of wages, statutory right to the general standard of working time, statutory right to rest day, public holidays, annual leave and sick leave as well as female employee’s statutory right to paid maternity leave. A field survey was carried out to collect data by using self-administered questionnaires from Human Resource (HR) practitioners in the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The results reveal that the level of basic knowledge of legislated employment rights varies between different types of statutory rights from high level to low level.

Keywords: Employment legislation, Human Resource (HR) practitioner, legal knowledge, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

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Authors: Nhon Van Do, Nam Hoai Le, Vien Chan Luong

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The Model for Knowledge Base of Computational Objects (KBCO model) has been successfully applied to represent the knowledge of human like Plane Geometry, Physical, Calculus. However, the original model cannot easyly apply in inorganic chemistry field because of the knowledge specific problems. So, the aim of this article is to introduce how we extend the Computional Object (Com-Object) in KBCO model, kinds of fact, problems model, and inference algorithms to develop a program for solving problems in inorganic chemistry. Our purpose is to develop the application that can help students in their study inorganic chemistry at schools. This application was built successful by using Maple, C# and WPF technology. It can solve automatically problems and give human readable solution agree with those writting by students and teachers.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, automated problem solving, knowledge base system, knowledge representation, reasoning strategy, education software/educational applications.

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Authors: Surinder Deswal

Abstract:

The paper investigates the potential of support vector machines and Gaussian process based regression approaches to model the oxygen–transfer capacity from experimental data of multiple plunging jets oxygenation systems. The results suggest the utility of both the modeling techniques in the prediction of the overall volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (KLa) from operational parameters of multiple plunging jets oxygenation system. The correlation coefficient root mean square error and coefficient of determination values of 0.971, 0.002 and 0.945 respectively were achieved by support vector machine in comparison to values of 0.960, 0.002 and 0.920 respectively achieved by Gaussian process regression. Further, the performances of both these regression approaches in predicting the overall volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient was compared with the empirical relationship for multiple plunging jets. A comparison of results suggests that support vector machines approach works well in comparison to both empirical relationship and Gaussian process approaches, and could successfully be employed in modeling oxygen-transfer.

Keywords: Oxygen-transfer, multiple plunging jets, support vector machines, Gaussian process.

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Authors: Hind Bouami, Patrick Millot

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Medication dispensing system is a life-critical system whose failure may result in preventable adverse events leading to longer patient stays in hospitals or patient death. Automation has led to great improvements in life-critical systems as it increased safety, efficiency, and comfort. However, critical risks related to medical organization complexity and automated solutions integration can threaten drug dispensing security and performance. Knowledge about the system’s complexity aspects and human machine parameters to control for automated equipment’s security and performance will help operators to secure their automation process and to optimize their system’s reliability. In this context, this study aims to document the operator’s situation awareness about automation risks and parameters involved in automation security and performance. Our risk management approach has been deployed in the North Luxembourg hospital center’s pharmacy, which is equipped with automated drug dispensing systems since 2009. With more than 4 million euros of gains generated, North Luxembourg hospital center’s success story was enabled by the management commitment, pharmacy’s involvement in the implementation and improvement of the automation project, and the close collaboration between the pharmacy and Sinteco’s firm to implement the necessary innovation and organizational actions for automated solutions integration security and performance. An analysis of the actions implemented by the hospital and the parameters involved in automated equipment’s integration security and performance has been made. The parameters to control for automated equipment’s integration security and performance are human aspects (6.25%), technical aspects (50%), and human-machine interaction (43.75%). The implementation of an anthropocentric analysis system before automation would have prevented and optimized the control of risks related to automation.

Keywords: Automated drug delivery systems, hospitals, human-centered automated system, risk management.

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Authors: Mary L. G. S. Senna, Veruska, C. Dutra, Jr., Keity L. F. Oliveira, Patrícia A. Santos, Alana C. M. Santana

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Environmental impacts are the changes in the physical, chemical or biological properties of natural areas that are most often caused by human actions on the environment and which have consequences for human health, society and the elements of nature. The identification of the environmental impacts is important so that they are mitigated, and above all that the mitigating measures are applied in the area. This work aims to identify the environmental impacts generated in the Praia do Caju area in the city of Palmas/Brazil and show that the lack of structure on the beach intensifies the environmental impacts. The present work was carried out having as parameter, the typologies of exploratory and descriptive and quantitative research through a matrix of environmental impacts through direct observation and registration. The study took place during the holidays from August to December 2016 and photographic record of impacts. From the collected data it was possible to verify that Caju beach suffers constant degradation due to irregular deposition.

Keywords: Leisure, tourism, environmental impacts, Brazil.

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Authors: Yi Yang, Jiasong Sun

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Almost every aspect of our daily lives is now intertwined with some degree of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). HCI courses draw on knowledge from disciplines as diverse as computer science, psychology, design principles, anthropology and more. The HCI courses in the Department of Electronics at Tsinghua University, known as the Media and Cognition course, is constantly updated to reflect the most advanced technological advances, such as virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence-based interaction. For more than a decade, this course has used an interest-based approach to teaching, in which students proactively propose some research-based questions and collaborate with teachers, using course knowledge to explore potential solutions. Semantic communication plays a key role in facilitating understanding and interaction between users and computer systems, ultimately enhancing system usability and user experience. The advancements in AI-generated technology, which has gained significant attention from both academia and industry in recent years, are exemplified by language models like GPT-3 that generate human-like dialogues from given prompts. The latest version of the HCI course practices a semantic communication platform based on AI-generated techniques. We explored a student-centered model and proposed an interest-based teaching method. Students are no longer just recipients of knowledge, but become active participants in the learning process driven by personal interests, thereby encouraging students to take responsibility for their own education. One of the latest results of this teaching approach in the course "Media and Cognition" is a student proposal to develop a semantic communication platform rooted in artificial intelligence generative technologies. The platform solves a key challenge in communications technology: the ability to preserve visual signals. The interest-based approach emphasizes personal curiosity and active participation, and the proposal of an artificial intelligence-generated semantic communication platform is an example and successful result of how students can exert greater creativity when they have the power to control their own learning.

Keywords: Human-computer interaction, media and cognition course, semantic communication, retain ability, prompts.

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Authors: D. E. Gourgoulis, C. G. Yakinthos, M. G. Vassiliadou

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With high speed vessels getting ever more sophisti-cated, travelling at higher and higher speeds and operating in With high speed vessels getting ever more sophisticated, travelling at higher and higher speeds and operating in areas of high maritime traffic density, training becomes of the highest priority to ensure that safety levels are maintained, and risks are adequately mitigated. Training onboard the actual craft on the actual route still remains the most effective way for crews to gain experience. However, operational experience and incidents during the last 10 years demonstrate the need for supplementary training whether in the area of simulation or man to man, man/ machine interaction. Training and familiarisation of the crew is the most important aspect in preventing incidents. The use of simulator, computer and web based training systems in conjunction with onboard training focusing on critical situations will improve the man machine interaction and thereby reduce the risk of accidents. Today, both ship simulator and bridge teamwork courses are now becoming the norm in order to improve further emergency response and crisis management skills. One of the main causes of accidents is the human factor. An efficient way to reduce human errors is to provide high-quality training to the personnel and to select the navigators carefully.areas of high maritime traffic density, training becomes of the highest priority to ensure that safety levels are maintained, and risks are adequately mitigated. Training onboard the actual craft on the actual route still remains the most effective way for crews to gain experience. How-ever, operational experience and incidents during the last 10 years demonstrate the need for supplementary training whether in the area of simulation or man to man, man/ machine interaction. Training and familiarisation of the crew is the most important aspect in preventing incidents. The use of simulator, computer and web based training systems in conjunction with onboard training focusing on critical situations will improve the man machine interaction and thereby reduce the risk of accidents. Today, both ship simulator and bridge teamwork courses are now becoming the norm in order to improve further emergency response and crisis management skills. One of the main causes of accidents is the human factor. An efficient way to reduce human errors is to provide high-quality training to the person-nel and to select the navigators carefully. KeywordsCBT - WBT systems, Human factors.

Keywords: CBT - WBT systems, Human factors.

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Authors: Timothy B. Oppong, Haiyan Yang, Cecilia Amponsem-Boateng, Guangcai Duan

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The human palm has been identified as one of the richest habitats for human microbial accommodation making hand hygiene essential to primary prevention of infection. Since the hand is in constant contact with fomites which have been proven to be mostly contaminated, building hand hygiene habits is essential for the prevention of infection. This research was conducted to assess the hand hygiene habits of Ghanaian youths in Accra. This study used a survey as a quantitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that out of the 254 participants who fully answered the questionnaire, 22% had the habit of washing their hands after outings while only 51.6% had the habit of washing their hands after using the bathroom. However, about 60% of the participants said they sometimes ate with their hands while 28.9% had the habit of eating with the hand very often, a situation that put them at risk of infection from their hands since some participants had poor handwashing habits; prompting the need for continuous education on hand hygiene.

Keywords: Hand hygiene, hand hygiene habits, hand washing, hand sanitizer use.

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Authors: Maisarah Makmor, Zulhabri Ismail, Rugayah Hashim, Nasyairi Mat Nasir

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Developing a nation geared by the principle of sustainable development has been one of the piers in moulding a greater nation for Malaysia since its independence. This is seen by the act of joining the United Nations in 1957, just a month after gaining their independence. The United Nations is an international organization that aims to unite the nations worldwide based on justice, human dignity and human well-being. Malaysia has established a local body called the United Nations Malaysia which collaborates with the government to accomplish the aim of supporting sustainable development in Malaysia. Agenda 21 is an international document produced from the Earth Summit providing guidelines of implementing sustainable development globally, nationally and locally. Initiatives of applying Agenda 21 in Malaysia have been taken by the government and non-profit organizations to expose issues regarding sustainable development and providing environmental education to the community to increase awareness towards environmental protection.

Keywords: Agenda 21, Environmental Protection, Malaysia, Sustainable Development, United Nations.

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Authors: Atif Mehmood, Said M. Easa

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This paper develops driver reaction-time models for car-following analysis based on human factors. The reaction time was classified as brake-reaction time (BRT) and acceleration/deceleration reaction time (ADRT). The BRT occurs when the lead vehicle is barking and its brake light is on, while the ADRT occurs when the driver reacts to adjust his/her speed using the gas pedal only. The study evaluates the effect of driver characteristics and traffic kinematic conditions on the driver reaction time in a car-following environment. The kinematic conditions introduced urgency and expectancy based on the braking behaviour of the lead vehicle at different speeds and spacing. The kinematic conditions were used for evaluating the BRT and are classified as normal, surprised, and stationary. Data were collected on a driving simulator integrated into a real car and included the BRT and ADRT (as dependent variables) and driver-s age, gender, driving experience, driving intensity (driving hours per week), vehicle speed, and spacing (as independent variables). The results showed that there was a significant difference in the BRT at normal, surprised, and stationary scenarios and supported the hypothesis that both urgency and expectancy had significant effects on BRT. Driver-s age, gender, speed, and spacing were found to be significant variables for the BRT in all scenarios. The results also showed that driver-s age and gender were significant variables for the ADRT. The research presented in this paper is part of a larger project to develop a driversensitive in-vehicle rear-end collision warning system.

Keywords: Brake reaction time, car-following, human factors, modeling.

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Authors: L. G. Karancsi

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The research was set up on chernozem soil at the Látókép AGTC MÉK research area of the University of Debrecen in Hungary. We examined the yield, the yield production per 1kg NPK fertilizer and the water and nutrient utilization of hybrid PR37N01 and PR37M81 in 2013. We found that PR37N01 produced the most yield at the level of N₁₂₀+P (17,476kg ha^-1) while PR37M81 reached the highest yield at level N₁₅₀+PK (16,754kg ha^-1). Studies related to yield production per 1kg NPK indicated that the best results were achieved at level N₃₀+PK compared to the control treatment. Yield production per 1kg NPK was17.6kg kg^-1 by P37N01 and 44.2kg kg^-1 by PR37M81. By comparing the water utilization of hybrids we found that the worst water utilization results were reached in the control treatment (PR37N01: 26.2kg mm^-1, PR37M81: 19.5kg mm^-1). The best water utilization values were produced at level N₁₂₀+PK in the case of hybrid PR37N01 (32.1kg mm^-1) and at N₁₅₀+PK in the case of hybrid PR37M81 (30.8kg mm^-1). We established the values of the nutrient reaction and the fertilizer optimum of hybrids. We discovered a strong relationship between the amount of fertilizer applied and the yield produced (r²= 0.8228–0.9515). The best nutrient response was induced by hybrid PR37N01, while the weakest results were reached by hybrid PR37M81.

Keywords: Hybrid, maize, nutrient, yield, water utilization.

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Authors: Nina Robson, Kenneth John Faller II, Vishalkumar Ahir, Mustafa Mhawesh, Reza Langari

Abstract:

This paper describes the development of a model of an impaired human arm performing a reaching motion, which will be used to predict hand path trajectories for people with reduced arm joint mobility. Assuming that the arm was in contact with a surface during the entire movement, the contact conditions at the initial and final task locations were determined and used to generate the entire trajectory. The model was validated by comparing it to experimental data, which simulated an arm joint impairment by physically constraining the joint motion with a brace. Future research will include using the model in the development of physical training protocols that avoid early recruitment of “healthy” Degrees-Of-Freedom (DOF) for reaching motions, thus facilitating an Active Range-Of-Motion Recovery (AROM) for a particular impaired joint.

Keywords: Higher order kinematic specifications, human motor coordination, impaired movement, kinematic synthesis.

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Authors: Ali Mohaghar, Iman Ghasemian Sahebi, Alireza Arab

Abstract:

In the last decades, increasing in human and natural disaster occurrence had very irreparable effects on human life. Hence, one of the important issues in humanitarian supply chain management is identifying and prioritizing the different risks and finding suitable solutions for encountering them at the time of disaster occurrence. This study is an attempt to provide a comprehensive review of humanitarian supply chain risks in a case study of Tehran Red Crescent Societies. For this purpose, Best-Worst method (BWM) has been used for analyzing the risks of the humanitarian supply chain. 22 risks of the humanitarian supply chain were identified based on the literature and interviews with four experts. According to BWM method, the importance of each risk was calculated. The findings showed that culture contexts, little awareness of people, and poor education system are the most important humanitarian supply chain risks. This research provides a useful guideline for managers so that they can benefit from the results to prioritize their solutions.

Keywords: Best worst method, humanitarian logistics, humanitarian supply chain, risk management.

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Authors: Imad M. Assali

Abstract:

Recently, the world main problem is a global warming and climate change affecting both outdoor and indoor environments, especially the air quality (AQ) as a result of vast migration of people from rural areas to urban areas. Therefore, cities became more crowded and denser from an irregular population increase, along with increasing urbanization caused many problems for the environment such as increasing the land prices, changes in life style, and the new buildings are not adapted to the climate producing uncomfortable and unhealthy indoor building conditions. As interior environments are the places that create the most intimate relationship with the user. Consequently, the indoor environment quality (IEQ) for buildings became uncomfortable and unhealthy for its occupants. The symptoms commonly associated with poor indoor environment such as itchy, headache, fatigue, and respiratory complaints such as cough and congestion, etc. The symptoms tend to improve over time or even disappear when people are away from the building. Therefore, designing a healthy indoor environment to fulfill human needs is the main concern for architects and interior designer. However, this research explores how occupant expectations and environmental attitudes may influence occupant health and satisfaction within the context of the indoor environment. In doing so, it reviews and contributes to the methods and tools used to evaluate only the indoor environment quality (IEQ) components of building performance. Its main aim is to review the literature on indoor human comfort. This is followed by a review of previous papers published related to human comfort. Finally, this paper will provide possible approaches in design level of healthy buildings.

Keywords: Sustainable building, indoor environment quality (IEQ), occupant's health, active system, sick building syndrome (SBS).

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Authors: N. Singh, N. Sharma, J. K. Katnoria

Abstract:

Water a vital component for all living forms is derived from variety of sources, including surface water (rivers, lakes, reservoirs and ponds) and ground water (aquifers). Over the years of time, water bodies are subjected to human interference regularly resulting in deterioration of water quality. Therefore, pollution of water bodies has become matter of global concern. As the water quality closely relate to human health, water analysis before usage is of immense importance. Improper management of water bodies can cause serious problems in availability and quality of water. The quality of water may be described according to their physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics. For effective maintenance of water quality through appropriate control measures, continuous monitoring of metals, physico-chemical and biological parameter is essential for the establishment of baseline data for the water quality in any study area. The present study has focused on to explore the status of water pollution in various areas and to estimate the magnitude of its toxicity using different bioassay.

Keywords: Genotoxicity, Heavy metals, Mutagenicity, Physico-chemical analysis.

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Authors: S. Balaji, M. Rajaram, Y. Harold Robinson, E. Golden Julie

Abstract:

Delay Tolerant Networks (DTN) which have sufficient state information include trajectory and contact information, to protect routing efficiency. However, state information is dynamic and hard to obtain without a global and/or long-term collection process. To deal with these problems, the internal social features of each node are introduced in the network to perform the routing process. This type of application is motivated from several human contact networks where people contact each other more frequently if they have more social features in common. Two unique processes were developed for this process; social feature extraction and multipath routing. The routing method then becomes a hypercube–based feature matching process. Furthermore, the effectiveness of multipath routing is evaluated and compared to that of single-path routing.

Keywords: Delay tolerant networks, entropy, human contact networks, hyper cubes, multipath Routing, social features.

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